What's New in 11.3.1

The release of OIPA 11.3.1.0 includes the below enhanced features in the Rules Palette and OIPA application:

New Features

Downstream Message Push using the JMS and SOAP Protocols

This feature provides the ability to define event-based messages and push the appropriate notifications to the downstream applications on completion of an activity processing when they are run either manually, through Data Intake (DI), Web services, or Cycle using the JMS or SOAP protocols. Users can configure this feature in Palette without the need for any external files using the newly introduced business rules namely, DownstreamMessagePushDefinition and PushNotifications. The rules can be configured for various activity types to create a business error on an activity, to rollback an activity in case of message push failure, or to continue processing an activity, and deliver appropriate messages to the downstream applications on activity processing for all entities, such as Plan, Policy (Policy document, Policy financial, and so on), Client, Company, and Customer.

A new MathVariable type DATE is introduced to support Date format conversion. It returns a date format string as specified in TOFORMAT.

  • If a MathVariable TYPE=DATE and DATATYPE= FORMATDATE, OPRERATION=GENERATE, it generates the system Date/timestamp in a format specified in TOFORMAT
  • If a MathVariable TYPE=DATE and DATATYPE= FORMATDATE, OPRERATION= CONVERT, it converts the defined time into a format specified in TOFORMAT

For more information, refer

  • DMP Overview
  • PAS Properties

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

New Rules Added

  • PushNotifications for JMS / SOAP
  • DownstreamMessagePushDefinition for JMS / SOAP

Rules Modified

  • MathVariable Element

New Tables Added

  • AcOutboundEvent (Admin Console Database)

Enhancements

Allow OIPA Users to Navigate off of the Activity Screen while Activity is Processing

Currently, when an activity of a certain transaction type is created in OIPA, it is processed in "Pending" status either through the ActivityDetailScreen manually or batch processing by Cycle Agent. The ActivityDetailScreen allows only one activity to be processed at a given time. Once the activity is in progress, the user interface and navigation are blocked to make further updates or to navigate to other parts of the application to ensure the data integrity. With this, the waiting time of the user is increased in case of complex spawn activities. With this enhancement, the user (CSR) can transfer the activity processing to the Cycle Agent and is allowed to navigate to other the screens of OIPA and do other work until the processing is completed.

For more information, refer

  • Transfer an Activity Processing from OIPA to the Cycle Agent
  • CycleService
  • Cycle Web Properties
  • PAS Properties

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

Rules Modified

  • Transaction Element

None

Access Stack Trace in a Secure Way and Implement User Friendly Error Messages

Currently, stack traces are thrown in OIPA user interface (UI) for all the exceptions that may occur while the system is accessed by different users such as business users and configurors, or technical engineers that operate OIPA.

Now, OIPA provides a secure way of accessing stack traces on UI by restricting specific user roles such as business users to view/access the stack trace through security groups . Only Admin or users with specific roles that have security defined are allowed to view and access the stack trace information with possible Error Cause and Fix Tips to debug/troubleshoot various system/configuration/data errors generated during the runtime.

A new node ShowStackTraces is added in the security section of Admin Explorer for page security in Palette to support all stack traces access for specific user roles. The button Show Stack Traces can be enabled for the configurors or other technical engineering users to allow access for the stack traces.

User Friendly Error Messages

An initiative in OIPA has begun to review current system generated errors and replace them with user friendly explanations. This project will be completed over several releases.

With the stack trace access restriction, OIPA displays only user friendly error messages to the business users on any exceptions/errors that occurs while activity processing, or in case of any configuration errors, or any system errors.

For more information refer,

  • Accessing Stack Trace
  • OIPA Error Catalog
  • APE Error Catalog
  • SRE Error Catalog

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

None

Modified Tables:

  • AsAuthPage
  • AsAuthCompanyPage
  • AsErrorCatalog

Application Roles Tab on ClientRoleScreen

In OIPA, currently the ClientRoleScreen supports three tabs "Policy Roles, Agreement Roles, and Class Member Roles" in which the Application Roles (System code '02') are displayed in the Policy Roles tab along with the Policy Roles (System code '01').

With this enhancement, the user can configure a new tab to display the Application Roles (System code '02') on the ClientRoleScreen in a separate tab. Now, the user will be able to easily differentiate between both Policy and Application Roles on the ClientRoleScreen. It avoids the confusion in case an identification number is used for both Policy and Application roles.

For more information, refer

  • Assign Application Roles

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

Rules Modified

  • ClientRoleScreen

None

Configure External/Deep Links with Allowed Domains

Currently, OIPA supports configurable external/deep links to access third party client applications like Accounting Management Systems, Document Management Systems (DMS), other External Systems, or any other web page that operate outside and independent of OIPA.

This enhancement serves as an added layer of security for this feature, when a user wants to configure links to navigate to a different website or system while working on the OIPA application for data. With this enhancement, the system ensures security by validating the configured sites/URLs in the business rule and allow only approved domains to be configured in Palette. This implementation ensures that the OIPA system adheres to standard security practices by allowing users to access only the secured links from OIPA.

For more information, refer

  • External Links
  • Allowed Domains

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

None

New Tables Added

  • ASALLOWEDDOMAIN

Display System Date on OIPA Banner

Currently, the OIPA users are unaware of the current system date until they add an activity. This enhancement allows to display the system date on the OIPA banner on all the screens next to the Environment Name, so that the users of OIPA can view the current system date when they logs on to the system.

The system translates and displays the date format (for example, dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy) as per user's locale on the OIPA banner.

A new environment property application.showSystemDate is added to the PAS properties, with Yes/No values.

  • If the property value is set to Yes, when a user logs in to the system, based on the user's locale, the system date is displayed on the OIPA banner.
  • If the property value is set to No, the system date is not displayed on the banner. The default value is set to No.

For more information, refer

  • Display System Date on OIPA Banner

Forward Ports

Pro-rated Allocations Enhancement

Currently, there is no way to Display/Hide original and final fund allocations other than configuring <Allocations> element in the VerificationScreen / ActivityResultsScreen with Yes/No values. With this enhancement, the attribute SHOWORIGINAL accepts a value from a math variable passed through an activity, which defines either to Display/Hide original and final fund allocations in the VerificationScreen/ActivityResultsScreen.

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

Rules Modified

  • VerificationScreen
  • ActivityResultsScreen

None

Ability to Return Bill Detail to a Billed Status After a Transition

Currently, the group-billing feature allows OIPA to generate a bill with multiple details through generation business rules attached to multiple activities. This enhancement allows revoking a payment and its subsequent bill detail reconciliations. The user can add an activity at current Effective date (not a payment date)
to reverse the effects of the payment. It provides the ability to move the bill detail statuses from RECONCILED to BILLED.

In the existing functionality, the "MaintainBillDetail" business rule is used to update of the Bill Detail record status using the below elements:

<ShadowBillDetail>Yes|No</ShadowBillDetail> (if yes Bill Detail status is changed to SHADOW)

<ReconcileBillDetail>Yes|No</ReconcileBillDetail> (if yes Bill Detail status is changed to RECONCILED – one record)

<ReconcileBillDetailCollection>collection</ReconcileBillDetailCollection> (All identified Bill Detail statuses are changed to RECONCILED)

The functionality has been expanded to allow updates to any Bill Detail Status through a new tags <UpdateBillDetailStatus> or <UpdateBillDetailStatusCollection>.

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

Rules Modified

  • MaintainBillDetail

None

Display Multifield Rows Based on User Interaction on OIPA Screen

Currently, Multifields business rule allows a user to configure a set of one or more, or a range of fields to be displayed on OIPA screens that support the Multifields rule. The configuror can define the number or a range of fields between the <Start> and <End> tags in the Multifield configuration that are needed to be displayed on an OIPA UI. This limits the configuror to define the number of fields between the <Start> and <End> tags appropriately in advance (the fields that may be needed by the CSR to enter data), as the count of repeating fields required are dependent on the set variables, fields, or derived values on the OIPA screen.

With this enhancement, OIPA has the ability to dynamically display the number of repeating fields, based on evaluated expressions, or a set of variables on the basis of user interaction on OIPA Screens in which the Multifields rule is configured. Based on the user's interaction with the OIPA Screen, the system dynamically generates and displays the number of multifield indices on that particular screen.

The configuror can configure an auxiliary field in the Multifields rule in an associated transaction, which is used by the system to dynamically assign a value for <Start> and <End> tags to generate the specified number of fields. The functionality of this enhancement is limited to the Activity screen, but is not limited to any specific type of event.

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

Rules Modified

  • Multifields rule

None

Ability to Add a Phone Record to using Business Rules CreateClients and CreatePhones

Currently, the CreateClients attached business rule is used to add the Clients, Addresses, Agreements, and few other details of the clients. This rule is modified to allow the user to add phone numbers and attach them to client or addresses through an activity. In this enhancement, a new attached rule CreatePhones is introduced to add phone numbers to existing clients or addresses and the rule can be overridden at an Activity-Client level.

The following table describes the business rules and database table changes as part of this enhancement:

Business Rule Changes Database Table Changes

New Rules Added

  • CreatePhones

Rules Modified

  • CreateClients

None

Rules Palette Opens Up Entry for State Override with the Selection of the Product

Currently, the business rules at the state level can only be overridden with the combination of a Plan or a Subsidiary Company. Now with this enhancement, the business rules in the policy context can be overridden at the Product-State level. OIPA recognizes the possibility of a business rule override at the Product-State level using the best match logic.

  • When a business rule is overridden at the Product-State level, OIPA implements the functionality as per the configuration defined in the Product-State override. For example, if EligibleTransactionByPolicyStatus(ETBPS) rule is configured at the Product-State level, then ActivityScreen in OIPA shows all the eligible transactions as per the override defined in its configuration.
  • When a business rule is overridden at a more specific level than the Product-State level, for example, with the combination of Plan-State level, OIPA implements the same functionality the way it is now currently as per the configuration defined in the Plan-State override level.

This enhancement is available only if the functionality of products is enabled in the OIPA properties file. Otherwise, the products are listed as plans in the plans dropdown and the user can make plan-state override.

Requirement Security UIP Extension Support

This enhancement enforces the requirement security using the extension in the Requirement Detail Screen. In the Policy Requirement table status column of this screen, the Edit icon on each requirement row, either be enabled or disabled based on the requirement security access.

OIPA Service Layer (REST API)

CRUD APIs to Manage Users and Security Groups - [GET, PUT, POST, DELETE]

This enhancement provides the REST service endpoints for third-party system integrations to manage OIPA Users and Security Groups through CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations through Service Layer. It allows the customers to maintain the user access information outside OIPA in different third-party systems, directories, or repositories. The OIPA Service layer enables seamless integration with the third party systems to push the Users and Security Groups information in OIPA security tables.

REST Services for OIPA’s AsFile SOAP Services (Using XML or JSON Payloads)

The Service layer implements a REST wrapper around OIPA’s AsFile SOAP web services for REST integration. With this enhancement, the users of third party systems can send requests to perform operations such as, create entities, request an exposed computation, or process a policy through these endpoints. The REST wrapper uses the existing SOAP configurations and accepts the Payloads through Service Layer in JSON/XML service requests, and it adds to OIPA’s flexibility to integrate with other systems easily. For more information, refer Service Layer documentation published in OHC.

Admin Console

Run Cycle Start / Stop Operations from Admin Console

Currently, Cycle processing is initiated through a command line interface to process various transactions that are configured in OIPA. When activities are processed through command line, the Cycle interface waits for cycle completion before returning control back to the user or client. This enhancement provides a common interface to initiate and control Cycle processing through Admin Console. It implements an API for the cycle steps for easier integration with external applications.
The users can run Cycle either by choosing single Cycle steps or Sequence names (as configured in "CycleSequence" Business Rule in Palette) and view the Cycle results (status of activity processing) in the Admin Console user interface.

For more information, refer:

  • Security and Login
  • Run Cycle Start-Stop Operations from Admin Console
  • Cycle Client
  • Admin Console System Properties

Display Cycle Results in Admin Console

This enhancement provides the ability to monitor the Cycle results of various activities processing in both the textual and graphical formats. The visual indicator allows the user to view each Cycle step (PreClient, Policy etc) that has the number of activities currently running or already processed in different statuses such as "Successfully completed activities / Failed activities / Pending activities " in that Cycle step. A user can apply filters and view the Cycle result details that are presented in a tabular format.

For more information, refer:

  • Home Overview
  • Complete Cycle Page
  • Chart 1 - Cycle Steps and Cycle Client Members
  • Chart 2 - Activities Executed in a Cycle Step
  • Chart 3 - The Individual Activities with the Same Name
  • Chart 4 - The Methods that were Executed within an Activity

Audit Logging and Monitoring of REST and SOAP Service Requests through Admin Console

Currently, all the reporting or audit logs of OIPA application access are maintained in Admin Console. This new feature enables the enterprise users to audit all the REST and SOAP service requests that OIPA receives. It provides the ability to track, manage, and audit the access logs of all REST and SOAP service requests (including the internal and external service requests) in Admin Console with minimal effort.

For more information, refer:

REST Services

  • Audit Log Search
  • REST Service Audit
  • Navigation Audit Result
  • Admin Console System Properties
  • Service Layer System Properties
  • PAS Properties

SOAP Services

  • SOAP Service Audit
  • PAS Properties
  • Admin Console System Properties